block heater

how long is to long to plug your block heater in

I don't believe there's any time limit. It heats it but not enough to overheat anything. Keeping it plugged in all the time just wastes your electricity.

I have mine on a timer for 2 hours. It comes on at about 3:00 PM so that when I go to use it after work, it's all warmed up.

I agree with bc. I used to leave a block heater plugged in overnight so it would be ready to go in the morning. This was out of ignorance since at the time I did not know that they would heat in an hour or two. I've just never seen ill effects except as bc said, running up the electric bill. Any electric resistance element such as a block heater draws beaucoup current.

Right on, there is no such thing as too long, just you are wasting energy.

Now, if you could rig up thermometer, read the temp of the engine, plug in the block-heater, check every 15 min and when it reaches max., you now know how long to run the timer or plug the heater in for.

Judging for the weather, just adjust the time up or down depending on outside temperature.

Probably find 2 hours is very close to max and less time if it is warmer outside.

thanks everyone, i did'nt think of a timer... sounds like it'll be the way to go for me

I wish that I'd though of the timer idea. When we had the MF at the farm, it was a booger to start if the temp even approached "cool". I always plugged in the block heater the night before and let it run all night if I was wanting an early start in the morning.

I will say that it did make a helluva difference in starting that ol' piece of scrap though. Lord, I hated that tractor .... for many reasons.